After Tangled: The End
by MaggieMaybe160
Summary: (After "Flynn's Tangled") Rapunzel and Eugene navigate their new life together after finding out that Rapunzel is the lost princess. Told from Eugene's point of view.
1. One: The Negotiations

**One: The Negotiations**

There was a moment after the Queen, Rapunzel's birth mother, had brought me down into the embrace of reunited family. That moment was the horror that flashed in the King's eyes when he recognized me as the notorious thief, Flynn Ryder. The King scrambled backwards, his hands grabbing Rapunzel's shoulders. He pulled her and his wife away from me where I was kneeling on the ground. Rapunzel wrenched her shoulder out from the grip of the King and ran back to me, helping fme up and holding onto my hands. Her whole body was shaking. I tried to steady her.

"Helene-" The King snapped, his eyes never moving from my face.

"My name is Rapunzel." She stood up as straighter. The King and Queen's eyes both moved to her face, full of hurt. "I think we have a few things to discuss." She looked to me for reassurance and I gave her hand a small squeeze.

Rapunzel and I were led to a large room with a long table. At the head of the table was a high backed chair. There was nothing on the table except for three candelabras which were unlit. A chandelier hung over the table but it was also unlit. All of the light that was needed was spilling in from a wall of windows where sunlight flooded through.

"Take a seat. The King and Queen will be in shortly." A guard said, bowing to Rapunzel and curling his lip with disgust at me. At every door there were at least two guards standing as still as statues.

"It's alright."I whispered. I held a chair out for Rapunzel who smiled a goofy smile and took her seat. I couldn't help but smile a small smile as I took my place next to her.

The heavy double doors on one side of the room opened. The King and Queen looked regal and diplomatic with no signs of overwhelming emotions that they had shown only a few minutes ago. They walked in slowly and a maid moved the chair for the Queen to sit while another maid did the same for the King.

"What have we to discuss, Helene?" The King's voice was steady.

"My name is not Helene." Rapunzel said in a voice that could cut glass. "My name is Rapunzel." The Queen said nothing but hurt flashed for a moment in her eyes."This is Eugene." She continued.

"That is Flynn Ryder." The King's voice remained steady but there was definitely anger that cut his words. "He is a thief. He stole your crown."

"He rescued me." Rapunzel interjected, her voice rising. "He brought me to the lanterns. He saved me from Mother. He brought me here."

"She was not your mother." The Queen said in a small voice.

"She was the only mother I ever knew. She was the only _person_ I ever knew. Before Eugene, that is."

"He was going to be hung and he caused a riot at the jail. He stole a guard's horse." The King continued, ignoring the remarks about Rapunzel's isolation.

"He saved my life!" The whole room stilled. My head had snapped up and everyone in the room was staring at Rapunzel who had stood up abruptly mid yell."You wanted your daughter. You wanted a princess. You want an _heir._ " No one moved to say anything. "I don't know how to be a princess. I don't know anything about this world."

"We can have you take lessons." The Queen said. "No one is born knowing. You'll take the lessons you were always meant to take."

"I will."She nodded and her small hand gripped mine. Her hand was shaking. "If he does, too." Their faces had filled with hope for all of two precious moments. "His 'crimes' will be erased. Flynn Ryder will be forgotten. Eugene Fitzherbert will be by my side or you have no heir."

The room was frozen. The only sound was Rapunzel's breathing. My heart pounded, anticipating the guards dragging me out of the room and Rapunzel being taken hostage. The Queen turned pleading eyes on her husband whose hands were splayed on the table. "Fine." The single word was almost a breath.

"What?" Rapunzel looked from me to the King.

"If you will be trained to be the next ruler of Corona, he will remain here. Flynn Ryder will be a forgotten ghost and Eugene Fitzherbert will remain here." The King said evenly without looking at me.

After the negotiations had ended and tension had left the room, Rapunzel and I were whisked out. I was brought to a different room than her where a massive bathtub waited and servants were pouring boiling water into it. Someone with a measuring tape came running in, instructing me to strip so they could take my measurements for new clothes. After the measurements were taken I was ordered into the hot water where servants used soap to scrub away the dirt on my skin and in my hair. I was dried quickly and given different clothes: a pair of dark pants, a shirt, and a coat. Then I was brought to a massive reception all to wait.

Rapunzel looked surprised as she was ushered into the room. She was wearing a full gown that covered her feet and the crown I'd stolen was resting on her head. She half ran to me and held my hand, looking around the room with wide eyes. The doors opened again and two servants came in. One was a man and the other a woman.

"This is your ladies maid." A woman I hadn't noticed before said to Rapunzel. "Gaelle." The maidservant curtsied. "You're butler." The woman said, turning to me. "Gustav." The man bowed to me.


	2. Two: The Lessons

**Two: The Lessons**

Rapunzel had agreed to lessons on both of our parts. She had to be made into the princess and I had to be taught to be a gentleman and a possible prince. They started by changing Rapunzel's clothes from the pink dress that was several inches too short to full length ball gowns with full skirts and corsets. They took away my denim and mud caked boots and remade my outfit into silks, fine cloth, and shined black boots. They thought that they had gotten Rapunzel to wear the heels that she had fought tooth and nail against, but she would walk right out of them, leaving them in her wake.

Rapunzel and I had a few lessons together. We were taught proper German and French. I had taught myself to read growing up in the orphanage. I had learned how to read and talk fluently in many languages, but I couldn't write. Rapunzel had been taught only German and she knew it well. We also learned horseback riding, ballroom dancing, how to eat, and the history of Corona.

Alone, I was taught sword fighting, hand to hand combat, how to walk, and how to act as a noble or prince. I figured Rapunzel was being taught how to walk and act as well, but I couldn't even begin to imagine what she was learning besides.

"I don't know." Rapunzel said randomly as we walked through the palace garden arm in arm. I looked down at her but her eyes remained on the path ahead of us. "I thought this was the answer. I thought they could be like a real family. I thought it would be easy."

"I'm sorry." I didn't know what I was supposed to say. "You're doing really well in your lessons, though." She only shrugged in response. I watched her eyes trace over the hedges in the garden and land on the guards that were ever present. I knew how she felt.

"I just…" She shrugged again and this time she looked up at me. "My entire life I lived mostly alone. Mother would leave and come back hours later. Sometimes she didn't come back for days. I was alone." She sighed and I waited, knowing there was more. "I can never be alone now. I can be in my room reading or walking out here with you or bathing and I have a guard or a maid or both following my every move."

"I'm used to the guards." I laughed and I saw her mouth twitch into a small smile. "I'm very much used to being alone, though. Like you." I nudged her as we walked and she moved her hand down to mine and laced our fingers together.

"I want to be alone, together with you." She whispered it. I only nodded a small nod of understanding and I knew she saw it.

My lessons were over for the day so I decided to walk around the inside of the castle. I found a staircase and went up until I was on the second floor. I walked carefully, feeling like an intruder even though I lived here legally.

"Stand up straight." I heard a strict voice coming from below. I had no idea what part of the castle I was in but I found my way around a corner and I was looking down over a railing that looked into a large room. Rapunzel stood in a ballgown, back straight, shoes on, and looking straight ahead. Her short brown hair was braided carefully away from her face and she wore her crown. Her instructor stood off to the side. "Walk."

I watched as Rapunzel did as she was told. She took slow steps, her heels making clicking noises on the tiles with every step. She wobbled a little and kicked her shoe off in frustration. "I know how to walk without _shoes_!" She made the word sound like a curse.

"Do it again." Her instructor fetched the shoe and brought it back to her, putting it on her stockinged food. I didn't know how long I sat there watching her practice walking and waving. I realized I could watch her do nothing all day and I'd be content.

Rapunzel and I stared at each other as we were tied to our chairs. In front of us was the dinner setting with the plates and bowls, millions of utensils, and three drinking glasses. I struggled against my restraint. Rapunzel's eyes moved to the forks and knives in front of her.

"I don't know how to use them." Rapunzel said in a whisper with wide eyes.

"You've never used a fork or a knife?" I asked, forgetting to struggle against my restraint. She shook her head. Our instructor came into the room, standing at the head of the table.

"You will be taught to sit and eat with proper posture, using the proper utensils, knowing the proper meals, and staying neat while you eat. Is that clear?" Rapunzel and I both mumbled in agreement. "Princesses and Princes do not mumble."

"Yes." Rapunzel and I said in unison. Our eyes met and we started to laugh.

"This is going to be a very long night." The instructor said to himself with a sad sigh.


	3. Three: The Sick Princess

**Three: The Sick Princess**

I sat alone in the dining room waiting for Rapunzel as I did every morning. The double doors opened and I stood as Rapunzel entered the room as I was trained to do. Her bright green eyes met mine and she smiled a little. As she got closer I realized how pale she was. Her eyes were shadowed and she looked sick.

"Are you alright?" I asked as we sat down together. She looked down at her hands.

"Yes, I'm fine, Eugene." She said, smiling up at me. I wasn't convinced.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I told you I'm fine." She snapped in a hushed whisper.

"Breakfast is served." The cook announced from the doors as two servers came in carrying silver p

latters. I was starving. The servers lifted the tops of the trays simultaneously and the amazing smells of rich food came up.

Suddenly Rapunzel gagged and shot out of her seat, stumbling backwards. I stood and rushed to where she had just backed into the wall. _I knew you weren't alright._ I wanted to ask her again what was wrong but there wasn't any point.

"I'm not hungry." She said thickly, swallowing hard and closing her eyes as if she were about to puke.

"Rapunzel." I caught her as she started to slide toward the floor. As soon as my arms were around her she let all of her weight fall. I held her against me. I could feel her heart beating against me as if she had just woken from a nightmare.

"I'm okay." She said softly, her eyes still closed tight.

"You most certainly are not okay." I said, kissing her forehead.

"Can I escort you back to your room, Majesty?" Gaelle asked as Rapunzel finally opened her eyes and started to stand.

"Yes, please. I think maybe my corset is too tight." She fanned herself gently. I let my arms fall away from her as she was finally standing and Gaelle took her elbow and started walking slowly out of the room.

When the doors closed behind them I went back to the table. Someone had already cleared Rapunzel's untouched breakfast and I ate alone. I wasn't hungry, too sick with worry to feel anything but the anxiety. I picked at my food and let them clear it before I'd eaten even a quarter of it.

"Where's Rapunzel?" I asked when I found Gaelle in the hallway.

"She's ill." Gaelle said, holding the dress Rapunzel had been wearing. I started down the hallway where I knew her room was. "Sir, she's resting. You can't see her right now."

"Why not?" I asked, turning to see Gaelle walking as fast as she could toward me.

"Many reasons, sir. It isn't proper. She's ill. You have lessons in the library, today."

"I need to make sure she's okay." I protested.

"I assure you. She's fine. When she's feeling up to it she'll speak with you." Gaelle turned. "Gustav!" Gaelle called. From around the corner my manservant appeared. "Bring him to the library for his lesson, please." With that, Gaelle strode off down the corridor without a second glance.

I was led to the library to start the language lessons that Rapunzel and I were supposed to be sharing. The tutor wasn't there. Instead my sword fighting trainer was waiting and informed me of the change in itinerary due to the Princess falling ill. I was then led to the training room to practice sword fighting. The trainer's name was lost on me as I was handed a sword. All I could think about Rapunzel. I already knew how to fight with a sword, just not in a kingly manner. The words my trainer was saying were going in ear and out the other. I copied his footing and fought wholeheartedly, using my worry as fuel for the fight.

I was kept in the training room fighting until well past dark. I was led to the dining room and ate alone with the King. Rapunzel apparently had been sleeping all day and the Queen had eaten early and gone to bed as well.

"How did you find her?" The King asked softly after a few minutes of dead silence. It was the most gentle I had ever heard him speak.

"It was an accident, sir." I answered without looking at him. Silence drew out between us for a few more bites of food.

"What did she want from you?" He asked finally.

"She told me that she needed to see the lanterns so I brought her to the festival." I waited a moment to see if he's respond. His face looked shocked as if he didn't expect that the lantern idea would have ever panned out. "She loved it."

"She loves you." He said quietly, almost reluctantly.

"I love her." I said softly, mostly to myself.

Gustav woke me up, opening the curtains and letting the sunlight pour into my room. I groaned and turned over, shoving my face into my pillows. I'd had a hard time falling asleep all night. Between the muscle ache from the training and the worry over Rapunzel, I'd been awake half the night and slept fitfully for the other half.

"It's time for you to wake, sir. Breakfast will be served in an hour." Gustav said sounding breathless.

"Then wake me up in an hour." I grumbled into my pillow. He let out a small laugh and pulled my blankets back. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Fine."

Gustav already had my bath filled. It was hard getting used to someone else running your life and I loved most of the luxuries, but having someone else bathe me and dress me was hard getting used to. I slid into the hot bath, sliding down until the water came up to my nose.

"Today you'll be studying French." Gustav informed me from the doorway, reading off an itinerary.

I sat up slowly, grabbing the soap. "All day? I already know French."

"No. You'll be learning French and doing some horseback riding. Breakfast first of course." I rolled my eyes with a small smile as I finished cleaning myself. After I was dressed Gustav immediately opened the doors and started leading me to the dining room as he did every morning. I sat down and waited for Gaelle and Rapunzel for arrive as always when the doors flew open again and Gaelle came running in. Alone.

I shot out of my seat. "What's wrong?" I asked, my heart slamming in my chest.

"She's gone." Gaelle said breathlessly.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _I like to listen to music while I write. Some of the songs inspire me to go certain ways with my writing. If there is a song or set of songs I'll put them here._

"If I Die Young" by The Band Perri


	4. Four: The Tower

**Four: The Tower**

No one had time to stop me or follow me. I ran out to the stable and found Maximus. I didn't bother with a saddle as I leaped up onto his back and grabbed his loose mane. I kicked into his sides and he took off at a run. I barely heard the shouts of protests from the servants and guards over the worry and sound of hooves on stone.

The path was the same one I took when I'd escaped from the prison only a month or so ago. Memories from that day rose, making me swallow hard. Rapunzel tied and gagged. Rapunzel's face over mine as I felt the life leaving me. I shook my head to rid myself of the memories but one remained. Rapunzel crying after I told her she was my dream.

At the base of the tower I threw myself off of the horse and ran to the side where we had come out after a few days. The doorway was still there. I ran up the steps and found that the entryway to Rapunzel's old home was sealed again with the floor tile. I sighed in relief before shoving against the floor tile and throwing it away from the stairwell I was in.

"Rapunzel?" I called as I climbed up.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel answered softly. She was curled up in a ball next to the clay pot that she'd hid the satchel in the first time we met. She was in her nightgown with a thick blanket wrapped around her. Her face was pale except for a feverish red high in her cheeks. I ran over to her and fell to my knees beside her, pulling her into my arms.

"Why are you here?" I asked, relieved that she had been able to find her way back here.

"I'm dying, Eugene." She whispered into my chest. The relief I'd had went up in flames. My heart was pounding. I hoped she couldn't feel it. "This hasn't happened before."

"What hasn't happened before?" I asked, stroking her hair. The smell hit me then. Vomit filled the pot that was next to her. "Are you sick?"

"I've never been sick before." She said, moving the pot away from herself with her foot. Suddenly she pushed me away from her and curled up in her blanket.

"What's wrong?" I asked, not moving.

"If I'm dying like this, you will too."

"Like what? What's happening?" I couldn't go back to comfort her for the look of fear in her eyes told me she thought whatever she had was catching.

"I don't know! My insides won't stay _inside_." She gestured to the pot of vomit. "I'm exhausted! It stopped and hasn't come back and Mother said that only happens when you get older and die."

"What stopped?" My heart dropped. A blush rose in Rapunzel's cheeks and she shook her head. "What stopped?" I asked again.

"The blood." She glanced down.

"I think you're not dying." I said gently. Her eyes met mine, pleading for answers and help. "And I can't catch it." I didn't know how to explain this to her. This was something her mother should have told her. The difference was that Rapunzel was never meant to meet another person let alone fall in love.

"What?" Rapunzel wiped a few tears from her face and sat up a little.

"You might be pregnant." I said bluntly.

"I don't know what that means." Rapunzel groaned, frustrated and looked away from me self consciously. Had her mother really taught her nothing? I cleared my throat and proceeded to tell her everything I knew about reproduction and by the time I had finished, her hands were over her stomach as she stared downward with an unreadable expression.

"Can I help you up to your bed now?" I asked gently. She looked up at me and nodded. I stood up and scooped her up into my arms. She leaned her head against my shoulder.

"Our." She said.

"What?" I tried to look down at her face.

"You said it was my bed. Isn't it our bed now?" She asked. I could hear the smile in her voice. I couldn't help myself but to let out a small relieved laugh. She laughed too.

"Wait, stay," Rapunzel sat up out of a dead sleep. I stopped in the doorway of our bedroom looking back at her.

"I'm just going to clean out the pot and bring it back." I promised. She eased herself back onto her pillows. "I'll be right back up." She nodded and let me leave. I walked down the staircase. The bottom step wiggled every time I stepped onto it. I ignored it as I picked up the puke bowl and walked down the hidden stairs of the tower and out onto the grass.

Maximus grazed nearby, content to be free outside and near us. Walked to the edge of the stone walls that hid the tower and dug a small hole, pouring the puke into it and covering it back up before going to the stream to rinse the bowl out.

"Are you staying?" I asked Maximus. The horse regarded me and took a step closer to the tower as if in answer. "Alright, then." I nodded and walked back up into the tower. Rapunzel was sitting in the window when I came back.


	5. Five: The Days Together

**Five: The Days Together**

Rapunzel's morning sickness continued violently for the next week before tapering off. During my first week living in her childhood home I cleaned up the remains of the fight she'd had with her mother. While Rapunzel stayed in our room, propped up with pillows and reading when she wasn't being sick, I carefully swept away the broken shards of mirror that we had left here when we had gone back to the kingdom to meet the King and Queen. I emptied the broken glass into a bin and went down to the base of the tower where a black and gold cloak lay covered in ashes. I picked it up carefully and rinsed it in the stream, the ashes washing away in the current.

"What should I do with the clothes?" I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Well, you and I both need new clothes." Rapunzel said. "I can make some or you can buy some."

"If I sell your mother's old things I can buy us both clothes and fabric unless you want to use this fabric." Rapunzel wrinkled her nose in distaste and shook her head slightly.

"Sell them and get us new things. If you bring back other fabrics I can also make us some other clothes and blankets." Rapunzel sighed and hugged her knees to her chest. "Can you sell everything of hers?"

"If you want me to."

I had just sold all of Rapunzel's kidnapper's clothes and was browsing the shelves of the shop, my hand holding the heavy gold pieces in my pocket. Gleaming, discarded on a random shelf, was a small ring. It had a golden band with small diamond flowers on top. I picked it up and brought it to the counter.

At another store I bought different colors of fabrics with different patterns and colors. On my walk back to the woods I found an abandoned garden that was hidden. There were hazelnut trees, parsnips, carrots, leeks, apples, everything anyone could grow. I picked all that I could silently thinking that this was probably Mother Gothel's garden that kept her and Rapunzel out of the kingdom.

I walked back up the stairs into the tower to find Rapunzel eating an apple and reading. She looked up as I slid the tile back over the staircase. "Goodmorning, beautiful." I smiled. I dropped the bundles of fabric and food and went to her, kissing her cheek as I hugged her from behind.

"What are you up to?" She asked, her hands coming up to hold mine.

"Come to Paris with me." I whispered.

"What?" She turned around abruptly, excitement in her eyes.

"Marry me, Rapunzel." A smile spread across her beautiful face. "Marry me in Paris."

"Yes!" Rapunzel flung her arms around my neck, planting small kisses all over my face. When she pulled away long enough I took the ring out of my pocket and showed it to her. Her face lit up and she picked it up out of my hand with just her finger and thumb, looking at the diamond flowers. She gave it back to me and held out both of her hands, unsure of which finger it was supposed to go on. I slid it onto her fourth finger on her left hand and kissed it before pulling her back to me.

"I love you, Freckles."

"I love you, too, Eugene."

Rapunzel sewed us wedding clothes and new clothes for our journey to France. I watched her as she set to work with such concentration and determination and it put me in awe of her. Every so often she'd take the garment off of the mannequin and make me try it on for a few moments while she put more pins into it.

"Tell me what you used to do," I said as she stuck some more pins in. She looked up at me with a question in her eyes. "Before you met me, I mean. What did you do all day?"

"Oh." She smiled a little and continued with her work. "I don't know. I had a whole routine. I would play games with Pascal. I would clean for awhile. I had a whole list of things that kept me busy in the mornings before Mother would come here. I made the candles and baked and cooked and… I don't know." She shook her head a little. "It was just things to keep busy. I played chess or painted. I read all of the books I owned too many times to count. What did you do?"

"I stole things and I ran." I shrugged, making her look up to tell me to stop moving. "I might have been more places but I don't think I did as much as you did in a single morning."

"We're going to Paris." Rapunzel grinned, standing up and ordered me out of the clothes. It was only a week later that we were in a private carriage headed straight for Paris.

* * *

 **Songs:**

"Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop" by Landon Pigg

"Come What May" from the Musical "Moulin Rouge"

"Symphony No. 41" by Mozart

"Paris Symphony" by Mozart


	6. Six: The Wedding in Paris

**Six: The Wedding in Paris**

Rapunzel was already awake when I woke up. She was weaving flowers into her short brown hair as she sat in front of the vanity. I sat up on my elbows watching her. Her eyes met mine in the mirror and she smiled almost immediately. I smiled back and she turned around.

"You're awake." She grinned and got up, coming over to the bed and kissing me. Her kisses still made me feel giddy. I pulled her to me, kissing her more deeply. She giggled into me and kissed me back.

"You're beautiful." I said when the kiss broke. Her eyes lit up the way they always did when I told her anything that had to do with my love for her. I tickled her and she shrieked with laughter, doubling over and trying to push my hands away. A few flowers fell from her hair as she rolled around on the bed.

"Eugene!" She said breathlessly with a smile. I stopped and looked at her upside down. "We have to get ready, remember?" She lifted her head and pecked me upside down before getting back up to finish her hair.

"Yes. Fine. Okay." I pushed the blankets off of me and grabbed my pants off of the floor. I went to our trunk and pulled out her new white gown and my white coat. I dressed myself in the new clothes we'd just gotten: clean black boots, black pants, and a white coat to go over a white shirt. When I turned around Rapunzel was stepping into her gown and pulling it up. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and turned around to face the mirror.

"Can you lace me up?" She asked, her eyes meeting mine again in the mirror. I walked over and pulled the lacing tight as she had taught me to do before our trip to Paris. Her green eyes watched me in the mirror as I focused on her dress.

"Can I help you?" I smirked, glancing up to meet her eyes. She grinned and shook her head.

"Wait. Yes. When you're done I need to brush your hair. It's a mess." I laughed at that and finished off the ties. She turned around holding the silver backed brush that she used for her hair always. I obediently sat on the vanity stool so she could reach my hair.

When we were acceptable looking, Rapunzel took my arm and we stepped out into the streets of Paris and walked to the small church. Waiting in the church was the priest and two familiar thugs who looked out of place dressed in high French fashion. They both turned when Rapunzel and I walked in and both seemed shocked.

We walked down the aisle together straight to the altar and the priest began. Rapunzel seemed to radiate her joy and excitement. Her beautiful green eyes were filled with happiness as she looked up at me.

"Do you, Eugene Fitzherbert, take Rapunzel as your lawfully wedded wife: to honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, from this day until death do you part?"

"I do." I looked down at Rapunzel, knowing I would love her forever.

"And do you, Rapunzel, take Eugene Fitzherbert to be your lawfully wedded husband: to honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, from this day until death do you part?"

"I do." Rapunzel bit her lip as she looked up at me again, grinning while tears slipped down her cheeks. I wanted to kiss them away.

"Do you have the rings?" The priest asked. I pulled the two silver rings out of my pocket. Rapunzel took the thick band that was for me from my hand and I picked up the small delicate ring that had the designs of leaves on it in my two fingers.

Rapunzel gave me her left hand that already had the first ring on it. I slid on the wedding band and kissed her hand gently before giving her my hand. She slipped my ring onto my fourth finger and squeezed my hand a little. We were told to kiss then and I leaned down, pressing my lips against hers. She threw her arms around my shoulders and I could feel her smile against my lips. I couldn't help but to smile too.

"Where are we going?" Rapunzel asked as I led her by the hand through Paris. I smiled at the memory of when she had asked me as I led her to the Snuggly Duckling only months before.

"There's a new invention I think you'll love." I said vaguely and turned to look back at her. She was glowing with radiant joy and love. I smiled back.

"What is it?" She pressed.

"You love the floating lanterns." I looked back to see her nodding urgently. "Well, someone invented a device that works like those lanterns but you can fly in them. They call it the hot air balloon."

"Are we going to go in one?" The spring in her step and the grin on her face made me walk faster, bringing her with me to the park where the man with the balloons waited. I paid him and he led us to one that was tethered to the ground with a rope. The door to the basket was open and I bowed, holding my hand out for Rapunzel. She took it and stepped on, daintily lifting her skirts. I followed and the technician closed the door behind us.

The ropes were taken off and the balloon began to rise. Rapunzel pulled me to the edge where she was staring down as we lifted away from the ground. She looked up in amazement and I watched as she took it all in.

It was night when we finally returned to our rented apartment. We had spent the day walking through Paris and enjoying the sights as well as meeting up with the friends we'd made at the Snuggly Duckling who had all traveled to Paris to see us married. Now we stumbled into our room, kissing and giggling. Rapunzel shushed me through her own giggles as she closed our door and I kissed her neck with small bites as I pulled at the lacing.

Her dress came loose and she stepped out of it as she climbed onto our bed in her see through slip. I tore off my jacket and kicked my boots off as I followed her. She nuzzled me gently and sweetly before kissing me. "Mr. Fitzherbert." She whispered against my throat.

"Mrs. Fitzherbert." I moaned back.

* * *

 **Songs:**

"A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri

"At Last I See the Light" from Tangled

"Paris Symphony" by Mozart


	7. Seven: The Fitzherberts

**Seven: The Fitzherberts**

I woke up to the sound of Rapunzel coughing a small cough that seemed to rattle. I sat up in our bed. We were back in Germany in our private tower in our private world. She sat with her back to me sewing and reading. She paused to cough again.

"Are you okay?" I swiped my arm across my eyes and blinked away the sleep.

"I just have a cough." She said in a small voice. "You can go back to sleep. I'm sorry I woke you." She stood up and came over to me, smoothing my hair back and kissing the top of my head. "I'll go sew downstairs."

"I'm already awake. I might as well get up."

It had been a month since our destination wedding. Rapunzel's middle had begun to round just a little. She was sewing small clothes for our baby and I was working on building the crib. Rapunzel put down her sewing and went downstairs to start breakfast like she always did once I'd woken up for the day. I peeked over the banister at her. Everything about her was beautiful and perfect to me. I looked up at the rafters to where I'd first seen her when we first met and smiled before pulling on my shirt and heading down to the base of the tower where the half built crib waited in the morning's sunshine.

"Why does the bottom step wiggle every time I step on it?" I asked her after I almost fell. She laughed a little and looked over at me.

"What's where I hid it."

"It?" I looked at the step again, wanting to attack it with tools to make it stop wiggling.

"Your satchel. It had the crown and the wanted poster." She grinned. I didn't want to fix it anymore. _You can tear this tower apart, brick by brick, but without my help, you'll never find your precious satchel._

"If I had torn apart the tower I would have found it."

"No you wouldn't have." She smiled, her eyes gleaming the way they did when she was proud or elated.

"Oh?"

"Because you wouldn't have torn it apart."

"Can we just take a nap?" Rapunzel asked, playing with a puzzle piece idly. Her eyes were glossed over and her face had paled since the morning. I looked up from the book I'd been reading to her. It was the medical journal we'd been gifted in Paris about childbirth. I closed it slowly.

"You don't usually nap, but okay." I got up, abandoning the book on the small table. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Just tired." She coughed a little and stood up. I followed her back up the stairs to our room which she had redecorated since we'd run away from the castle. She crawled into the bed and patted where I was meant to go. I crawled up after her and wrapped my arms around her protectively as she closed her eyes.

Our room had murals of our life together. She'd painted our campfire in the woods, our boat in the water surrounded by lanterns, and a small figure of me climbing a long golden train of hair up the side of a tower. She'd hung up the kingdom flag that I'd bought for her. I ran my fingers through her short brown hair as she slept.

"You saved me from myself," I whispered and kissed her temple.

"Do you miss your old life?" Rapunzel asked as we sat by the stream and cleaned our clothes together. I raised an eyebrow. "Thieving and having adventures."

"No." I squeezed out the water from one of my shirts and watched the water ripple waiting for more questions. When they didn't come I elaborated. "I liked the travel. I didn't like being a criminal after I found out about this." I waved my hand to cover our private world. She beamed. "Do you miss people after all that?"

"No. It was nice for a few days." She coughed into her shoulder. "I'm glad I got to experience it, but I'm not ready for it every day." She sniffed and dipped her feet into the stream. "You're not ever going to tell me about being a criminal, are you?"

"Not a chance, Freckles." I grabbed our clothes and brought them over to the clothes line we'd set up. When I turned back around, Rapunzel pushed her hand through the water and splashed me. "What!" She was giggling and splashed me again before I got back to the water and splashed her back.

"Do you know any stories?" Rapunzel asked as sewed next to the fire I'd built in the fireplace. She was curled up in a massive chair and I was sitting next to the fire flipping through her books.

"Of course." I smiled up at her. "Besides Flynn Ryder?"

"Besides Flynn Ryder."

"A few years ago I went to see the play, Hamlet in Munich."

"Is it famous?"

"Shakespeare was famous, yeah." I wrapped my arms around my knees and tried to think of his plays. "I don't think you'd like his plays very much."

"Why not?" She seemed offended if only slightly. I couldn't help but laugh a little at her as she straightened up a little as if to say _I might like everything._

"He mostly wrote tragedies. One of his most famous plays is about a boy and a girl who fall in love and have to kill themselves to be together. In another, a man is manipulated into thinking his wife had been unfaithful and the jealousy drove him to kill her. In Hamlet, everyone dies." Rapunzel's face had crumpled.

"You were right." Her voice shook a little and she looked away from the fire, hiding her face in shadow. I got up and sat next to her, putting my arm around her. "I'm not crying," She cried softly.

"I know. Come here." She turned around and buried her face in my chest.

"What's…" I was trying to think of questions to ask Rapunzel while I bathed Maximus and she painted on the new easel I'd built her. "What is your favorite food?" I asked finally, realizing I'd never asked her such a basic question.

"Well. I guess I don't have one. Mother always told me that my favorite had always been hazelnut soup. I could never recall ever telling her I liked it enough to deem it my favorite, though." My heart twisted while I listened to her talk about the manipulations no matter how little. "I think she enjoyed it a great deal so she told me that I'd always loved it, too."

"What do _you_ want your new favorite food to be?" I asked, not knowing how to show how sorry I was that I didn't find her sooner. She smiled, biting her lip.

"I don't know. I love cookies."

"That's a dessert!" I protested, laughing.

"It's edible. It's food." She grinned.

"How many times have you actually healed me?" I asked, thinking back to the forest when she'd healed my hand. Surprise flickered over her face and she looked away from me.

"What?"

"In the forest you sang to heal me. How many times have you healed me?" I asked again, smiling now because I knew it had been more than the two times.

"Uhm." She smiled a guilty smile, pressing her lips together. "Maybe five times?"

"Five?!" I half laughed as I looked over at her with fake exasperation. "How many times have I died?" I joked and she laughed.

"Probably only the once."

"Probably."

"Most likely." She grinned.

"Come here." She smiled a gentle smile and held her arms out to me. I came over to hug her. She raised her face to mine and pressed her lips to mine. "I love you, Eugene Fitzherbert."

"I love you, Rapunzel Fitzherbert." I kissed her again and after a moment she gasped. She grabbed my hand and pressed it to her stomach. A strong kick met my hand. Her smile illuminated her face and her eyes were wide with excitement.


	8. Eight: The Cough

**Eight: The Cough**

I opened my eyes to the darkness of our room. It was still night or early morning at least. Rapunzel slept next to me, one of her hands over her stomach and the other on my hand by her side. I didn't know why I was awake. Rapunzel coughed softly before her eyes opened a little and she sat up to cough harder. I handed her a handkerchief and she took it, coughing a few more times before lying back and handing it back to me.

"Did I wake you?" She whispered quietly.

"No." I lifted her hand to my lips and saw her smile in the darkness.

When I woke up again it was to the sound of Rapunzel coughing downstairs. I sat up and grabbed my shirt from the floor. Next to it was the handkerchief I'd given her the night before. Blood spotted it lightly. I grabbed it and went downstairs to where Rapunzel was bracing herself against a wall and coughing into her free hand.

"I'm alright, Eugene." She straightened up and wiped her hand absently on the flour covered apron she was wearing.

"This isn't alright." I wanted to protect her but I was powerless to protect her from herself. I felt angry but had no one to be angry at. I could see the light smear of blood on her apron and wanted to bring her to a doctor but knew it would mean the end to our freedom, the end of our lives. "I'm sorry."

It had been months since I'd gone to the Snuggly Duckling. The last time I'd been was when I was giddy with the news of Rapunzel and I'd wedding. I'd invited two of them to meet us in Paris to be the witnesses to our marriage. This time I was wracked with worry.

I found Hook Hand sitting with Vladimir in a corner. I made my way over there without a word. I pulled out a seat and sat opposite both of them and they looked up, mild surprise showing in their eyes.

"Fitzherbert." Vladimir said gruffly.

"Hey guys." I didn't know how to start. "Can either of you do me a favor?" They looked apprehensive so I kept talking. "Rapunzel's sick and needs black powder. Can you get it for me?"

"Of course. How sick is she?"

"I don't know. She's been coughing and it's not good. She just needs the medicine, I think." I took a handful of coins out of my pocket and put them on the table between us. "For the medicine." Hook Hand nodded and took the coins.

"Come back in a couple days and I'll have it." He said and I left.

I waited two days before going back to get the medicine and it was there. I walked back to our home through the forest, keeping my hand on the bottle of black powder as I walked. I tried to think of what to tell Rapunzel about it. She insisted that she'd never been sick before. She'd always had her hair to rely on for feeling better instead of medicines or doctors. That was over now.

I walked up our staircase and into the wide living space. Rapunzel sat in the chair by the fire, running her hand over her round stomach. She looked up as I closed the hatch.

"Where were you?" She asked conversationally, sitting up with some effort.

"Your cough is getting worse. I went to get medicine for you." I took the bottle out of my pocket and set it on the table. She raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "It'll help the cough."

"Okay." She didn't sound reassured but she nodded her head.

As Rapunzel's cough worsened, she stopped going outside. In the end, it wasn't such a bad thing. Winter had approached. Rapunzel slept quietly behind me as I stared out the window of our room and watched the small white flakes drift down. I heard her shiver and grabbed another blanket to cover her with. I was about to turn away when she opened her eyes slowly and blinked up at me, a smile curving on her lips.

"It's snowing." I smiled and pointed to the window. She sat up with some effort and looked at the snow that fell past the window. She coughed a little and grinned.

"I love the snow."

I wanted to bring her outside and let her feel it. I wanted to let her make snow angels. I couldn't. She was sick and nearly ready to give birth. It would have to wait until she was better.


	9. Nine: The Beginning

**Nine: The Beginning**

"I've made goo for breakfast." Rapunzel announced. I looked over the railing into our small kitchen where she stood in front of the stove. In a pan was eggs with vegetables mixed in and it indeed just looked like a pile of goo. She put her hands on her lower back and stretched, grimacing. "When do I get to hold cute babies instead of feel hurt all over?" Rapunzel groaned.

"When they're ready." I said, coming down the stairs and swooping in to kiss her. I ran my hand over her belly. "The book says nine months so you're almost done."

As if on cue, Rapunzel doubled, grabbing her middle and yelling out in pain. I caught her before she fell and she looked up at me with worried eyes. I helped her up the stairs back to our bedroom and helped her onto the bed.

Watching and trying to help Rapunzel give birth was one of the scariest and most beautiful things I'd ever seen in my entire life. Her shrieks of pain made me ache to alleviate every pain she could ever have. Her grip on my hand was strong and she nearly broke every bone in my hand at least seven times. Seeing the baby, hearing the cries, made my heart melt.

"Let me hold her." Rapunzel held out her arms. The beaded sweat on her forehead made her hair wet and her cheeks were flushed. I finished wrapping up the tiny baby and brought her to Rapunzel who smiled immediately. "She's so beautiful." Rapunzel whispered in awe as she ran her hand over the crying baby's face. She kissed the top of the infant's head and the crying subsided slowly. I took the baby back, feeling my heart swell as I looked down at her face.

I cradled the small, perfect, human life against my chest. Her small face was serene after the storm of crying from the trauma that was living. The blanket I'd pulled around her small form was soft and white. One of her small wrinkled hands gripped the edge of the blanket as she slept. I pressed my lips to her forehead before putting her in the crib and turning back to Rapunzel.

Rapunzel let out another groan of pain and motioned me to come back to her side. We weren't expecting two babies but that was exactly what we got. I cleaned and bundled the second baby before bringing her to Rapunzel. Again, Rapunzel smiled and kissed her child. The color was draining from her cheeks and her big green eyes looked tired. Rapunzel coughed softly and I took the baby back into my arms as Rapunzel lifted the handkerchief to her mouth.

I kissed my daughter before putting her into the crib next to her sister and turning back to my beautiful wife. She coughed again and looked up at me weakly. I crawled onto the bed next to her and she cuddled against me, pressing her face into my chest.

She coughed and her breath came out as a high wheeze. She lowered her hand from her mouth and it was covered in blood. Her breathing was becoming more and more shallow and she fell back from my chest, sliding onto her pillows. Her eyes were closed as if she'd fainted.


	10. Ten: The End

**Ten: The End**

"Rapunzel." I lifted her limp form into my arms, hugging her to me. Her breath was shallow now and there was no color left in her. "Rapunzel, please. Don't leave me here." I sobbed into her shoulder.

"I love you." It was barely a whisper. It was only a breath but it was her last breath. I clutched her against me harder and wept. I rocked forward and back, sobs racking my entire body. My heart felt as if it had been ripped from me.

"What are the words? Those words you sang in the forest?" I begged through gritted teeth as tears streamed down my face and onto Rapunzel's. "Flower gleam? And glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine." I pulled her against me, trying to sing through the pain but nothing was happening. "Heal what has been hurt, change the fate's design. Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine." I was shaking and couldn't stop as I rocked back and forth, holding her limp form against me. "What once was mine."

I don't know how many times I repeated the song she'd sung to heal me in the forest. I repeated it over and over hoping for her to whisper my name and look up at me with her beautiful green eyes and tell me she was alright. I repeated it, drowning in my own tears.

The sun began to rise and still the twins slept in their bundles of blankets that protected them from the cold air around them. I kissed Rapunzel's forehead and whispered to her my goodbye. "I have only dreamed of one thing. I fell in love with you and I dreamed of being with you. Even while I was with you I dreamed of you. You were and always will be my dream and my love. Our children are my new dream. They're my last bit of you. I love them so much already. I love you. I love you so much, Rapunzel." I wrapped her blanket over her, covering her ghostly white face, and crossing the room to where the twins lay.

I picked them up and walked down the stairs to the room I'd met Rapunzel in. I paused at the window I'd climbed through. The wardrobe she'd locked me in stood against the wall. Her drawings and her life surrounded me. I had cried all that there was to cry. I felt drained and I knew that the only reason I was leaving this tower was because of the two babies in my arms who needed what I couldn't provide.

I descended the hidden staircase carefully and stepped out onto the grass. Maximus stood ready. I climbed up onto the horse, careful of the two babies in their slings that hung from my neck, and looked down at them as they slept. Maximus began to walk toward the kingdom as I ran my thumb carefully over the small faces of my children.

They both had brown hair and startling green eyes that pained me when the first one woke and looked up at me. "Goodmorning, Rapunzel." I whispered. Her sister blinked sleepy eyes up at me then. "Did you sleep well, Elouise?"

It felt like an eternity getting to the kingdom, but we emerged from the forest at the stone bridge that I'd been across so many times. I thought of myself running with the crown in the satchel that was now long gone. I remembered Rapunzel's beaming face as she turned around to face me when she crossed the bridge for the first time. My heart ached, but we pressed on.

"I request an audience with the King and Queen." I announced at the Palace to a guard. "As their son in law." My voice cracked and the guard had me follow him into an empty room.

"Wait here, Mr. Fitzherbert." The guard said before leaving the room. There were other guards posted at each of the doors, but it didn't matter. I sank to my knees, cradling my babies.

"Where is she?" The voice belonged to Rapunzel's mother, the Queen.

"Rapunzel," I choked, not looking up, "is dead."

"No." The Queen breathed and I heard her fall behind me.

"I need help." I felt weak begging for help. "Our children have no mother, no source of nourishment."

"Children?" The King's voice was harsh.

"She fled when she became ill," I said. "She died when she gave birth. I need help."

I didn't know what happened next because it happened so quickly. Rapunzel and Elouise were taken from me as someone twisted my arms up behind my back. Someone punched me across the mouth when I'd yelled and a boot came down on the back of my leg when I'd tried to stand.

"Flynn Ryder, you are wanted for thieving, kidnapping, and murder." A voice hissed. My heart slammed in my chest as I watched the Queen walk out of the room with my baby, my last bit of Rapunzel, my last bit of life. When the King and Queen had gone with my children I was hauled to my feet and out of the side doors.

"No!" I screamed, wrenching my head over my shoulder to where I'd last seen them. "No!" I felt sick and like every bit of me was being torn away. I doubled over as I was shoved into a cell and vomited. "I didn't kill her!" I sobbed, grabbing the bars and screaming. "I love her." I sagged against the bars, sobbing quietly.

The bars fell back from behind me and I was dragged up to my feet. I didn't bother fighting. Everything had been taken from me. The guards walked me down the same path that they had when the jail break happened and I'd escaped to Rapunzel. No such happenings would happen today. Even if someone caused a riot, there was nowhere for me to go.

I felt numb as I stepped up the wooden stairs to where my noose hung. The executioner was waiting patiently. A crowd of townspeople were waiting, watching as the noose was fastened around my neck. I could barely see them. My last rites were being read out.

I closed my eyes and saw Rapunzel asking who I was, flying out of her window with her golden hair, singing at the pub. I saw Rapunzel slamming the frying pan into me to give me a weapon against the guards, diving into the water to try to find a way out of the cave, healing my hand in the forest. I saw Rapunzel dancing in the kingdom and singing under the lanterns. I saw Rapunzel fighting for my life and telling me that I was her dream. I saw Rapunzel.

The trap door opened and I fell.

* * *

 **Song:**

"Say Something" by A Great Big World


End file.
